After snow storm, Burlington still has plenty of salt

Saturday

Feb 15, 2014 at 12:01 AMFeb 15, 2014 at 5:23 PM

Molly McGowan / Times-News

Burlington may have used 150 tons of salt to brine and salt city roads since Wednesday afternoon, but there’s plenty more where that came from — and the street division is prepared for anything else Mother Nature may throw its way this year.

Public Works Director Nolan Kirkman said the city has about 100 tons of salt left, which is “plenty for any black ice activity.”

“We’ve had two (events) this year,” Kirkman said, referring to last week’s snowstorm and the icy roads brought by the brief snowfall in January. He said what the city has in its salt shed now would be enough to tackle a situation similar to January’s ice.

If the forecast doesn’t call for rain before a snowfall, the city will spray brine on the streets.

“We actually make brine with the salt,” Kirkman said, adding it doesn’t take much salt to make the mixture. “It’s 75 to 78 percent water.”

And the city’s already ordered another 100 tons of salt, which is standard whenever a winter weather event depletes some of Burlington’s stock.

“Every time we use our salt, … we’ll go ahead and order a shipment,” Kirkman said.

The same goes for the ice melt used on downtown Burlington sidewalks and various municipal buildings’ steps, he said.